Minnesota Poised to Make Super Bowl LII a Bold Showcase

Minnesota is a polite and buttoned-up place. But Minnesota can also be a place for the bold, and it will be just that in February 2018 when it hosts Super Bowl LII following the 2017 season.

The Minnesota Super Bowl Bid Committee’s presentation had a “Built for the Bold” theme, which focused on the business-friendly, dynamic and unique community in Minnesota and the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. One element of the presentation expressed that everyone from “food freaks, fashionistas, fitness fanatics, and night owls” will appreciate the bold Super Bowl experience Minnesota will offer.

So what will be so “bold” about Super Bowl LII in Minnesota? Let’s take a look…

The New StadiumThe centerpiece of Minnesota’s bid was the new, iconic and bold Vikings stadium, a multi-purpose venue that is currently under construction and is set to open in July 2016. The stadium, which will typically seat 65,400, will be expandable to 72,000 seats for the Super Bowl. It is bigger and bolder than its predecessor, and will be not just a landmark but an iconic structure in the state and in the NFL. Other bold elements of the stadium include: some of the closest-to-the-action seats the NFL has to offer; 8,000 club seats and six private clubs; the clear ETFE material that comprises 60% of the roof’s surface and five of the largest glass pivoting doors in the world.

The LogoEach Super Bowl has its own unique logo that lives forever in NFL lore. The Super Bowl LII logo is comprised of a silhouette of the Vikings new stadium and includes the roman numerals, which depict the glass pivoting doors, as well as a blue-purple color combination that captures a bold, wintery aura.

Bold BusinessThere are 19 fortune 500 companies in Minnesota, the fourth most of any NFL market and the most per-capita of any state in the country. The Super Bowl is the pinnacle of the NFL – a championship game that crowns one team as the season’s best. But a big part of the Super Bowl is the series of events that take place in the weeks leading up to the game, many of them business-centered.

“It’s a fantastic place to do business and to live. I think that will bode well for the NFL,” Baker said. “The Super Bowl means a lot here. It’s a huge NFL market, it’s a huge Vikings market. And you’ve got a monster fan base here, and a lot of excitement about hosting the NFL’s supreme event. We hope we can marry these two great things together – an iconic event called the Super Bowl and an iconic market called Greater MSP.”

Warming Up to the Cool ClimateIn Minnesota, winter isn’t endured. It’s celebrated. Minnesotans revel in it. With events such as the Winter Carnival, Crashed Ice, Ice Castles and Torchlight Parades, the region celebrates winter and that energy was captured by the bid committee in their presentation as they convinced NFL owners that outsiders would warm up to the cool climate while enjoying a first-class Super Bowl experience.

Those who prefer not to brave the elements and would rather be bold inside will enjoy the experience, too. Minneapolis has over eight miles of skyways connecting businesses, hotels and restaurants. There are more theater seats in Minneapolis than anywhere outside of Manhattan. And of course, there’s the Mall of America, which sees over 40 million visitors annually.